Obama set to honor JFK on 50th anniversary of his death
With the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy approaching this Friday, President Obama is set to honor his predecessor's legacy. On Wednesday, he'll participate in an event that dates back to JFK's presidency: the awarding of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Kennedy established the tradition 50 years ago with an executive order and was set to honor the first 31 recipients just two weeks before he was killed. The Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor given in the United States to honor individuals who have made notable contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to other public or private endeavors. In the 50 years of the awards existence, it has been awarded to more than 500 people.
Mr. Obama will honor 16 people in a dinner at the National Museum of American History Wednesday evening, where he will pay tribute to Kennedy's legacy. Jack Schlossberg, Caroline Kennedy's son and Kennedy's grandson, is set to introduce the President. Other past recipients will attend the dinner, including baseball's Hank Aaron, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, singer Aretha Franklin, economist Alan Greenspan, activist Jesse Jackson and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
This year's recipients span a variety of fields including sports, music, public service and human rights and is a mix of living recipients and those who will receive their medal posthumously. Mr. Obama will honor Ernie Banks, a former Chicago Cubs baseball player with a stellar record; Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of The Washington Post when they broke news of the Watergate scandal; former Presidetn Bill Clinton, whose post-presidency foundation does work around the globe; Daniel Inouye, the late senator and first Japanese American to serve in Congress; Daniel Kahneman a pioneering psychology scholar who earned the Nobel Prize in economics; former Sen. Richard Luger, who worked to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons; country music legend Loretta Lynn; chemist and scientists Mario Molina; Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut to travel to space; Bayard Rustin, a civil rights and gay rights activist who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King; musician Arturo Sandoval; Dean Smith, the head coach of the University of North Carolina basketball team from 1961 to 1997 and civil rights advocate; feminist movement leader and author Gloria Steinem; minister and civil rights leader Cordy Tindell "C.T." Vivian; Judge Patricia Wald; and television personality and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Obama and his wife Michelle will lay a wreath at Kennedy's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery with former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Comparisons between the 44th and 35th presidents are inevitable: both are skilled orators who were junior senators in their home states running against much more experienced Republican opponents when they were first elected.
But political scientists Larry Sabato, who recently authored a book about Kennedy's presidency, assassination and legacy, said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday that there has still been no equal to Kennedy in American history.
"All the presidents try to imitate John F. Kennedy, but they can't," Sabato said. "He had a special magic, a special combination of rhetorical ability, the ability to inspire and also self-deprecating humor, which some of our presidents really ought to acquire."